Sad, But Joyful

October 23, 2009

My Grandma died today.

I am saddened by that fact. I am joyful that I know she knew and loved Jesus and that He was so important in her life. She lived 85 long, difficult, but blessed years.

I mourn because my Daddy has to bury the woman that sacrificed everything for him and his brothers. She always made sure that her boys were fed, even though times were hard and money was short. She did her best to raise them to be good men.

Both of my hard-working Grandmas labored side-by-side in a sewing plant. One day, they decided that their single son and daughter needed to go on a blind date. I'm glad they took the initiative to set their kids up. I have both my Grandmas to thank for the fact that I even exist.

I wish my kids had known the Grandma I had when I was their age. Long before the evils of dementia stole her mind from her, she would take the time to sit down with me and sew clothes for my Barbie dolls. She made them lacy undergarments and slips and even some suits for the Ken dolls. She didn't have to do that. She had a lot of demands on her time--from her health problems, to household chores, farm duties, and a husband who wasn't always kind to her. She made an 8-year-old girl feel so special that she would take the time out of her day to do nice things for me.

Grandma had health problems long before I was born. She had to have a brain tumor removed, which left her face drawn and slightly disfigured. She had slight paralysis of her mouth, an eye, and one side of her body. She was really self-conscious of how she looked. It never bothered me. In my mind, that's just what Grandmas were supposed to look like. I never realized how hard it was for her.

Grandma made the most unbelievable biscuits that I'd ever eaten. I've never had anything like them, and I wish so much that I'd gotten her recipe. I asked her once, years ago, but her mind was already so far gone that she couldn't remember how she made them.

I am thankful that she taught me about Jesus. I am glad that even though she knew a lot of pain in her life, she was still happy and considered herself blessed. She sang God's praises for as long as her mind and body would let her. I can only hope that I will do the same.
Emma and Grandma, 2001

We love you, Grandma Hayes. We'll see you again one day.

With an oink, oink here, and an oink, oink there...

October 19, 2009


Against my better wishes, the swine flu made its way into my home.

Luke was diagnosed with it on Wednesday of last week. BOY, is this stuff ever NASTY! He had a really high fever, sore throat, cough, total lethargy, and learned the skill of projectile vomiting.

In related news, Jason learned how to mop.

Even though the rest of us had Lysol in our lungs and hand sanitizer running through our veins, Emma still caught it, too. She started running a fever on Friday morning. We headed her case off early with Tamiflu, and she's already back at school today. (Unlike Luke, who still had a fever last night. *Thanks, Dr. Sidney! You were right about Tamiflu being better than Relenza!*)

On a brighter note, after I'd been coughed on, puked on, and slept on during the morning on Thursday, I heard the UPS truck rumbling up our driveway. I was thrilled to see it was a package for me from Sandi at Whistlestop Cafe Cooking. I had won a giveaway from her blog, and it arrived at the perfect time. I needed a pick-me-up!

I won all these goodies:
So far, I've only tried the grilling spice, which Jason is now in LOVE with. Emma cannot wait for me to make the cobbler. She came home from school Thursday afternoon telling me about how she had eaten something called "blueberry cobbler" in the school cafeteria and how great it was. I am shocked and saddened that I have let her go 9 years without a blackberry or peach cobbler in her life. I will be remedying that soon with the Caboose Cobbler mix! (By the way, all these items are available on this website for ordering.) There are a lot of really yummy sounding recipes in that cookbook, too.

My package also included this great apron:
I would have modeled it, but I'm still in my jammies and no one wants to see that. Thank you, Sandi, for all these great gifts! I'm going to feel like a real chef in my new apron!

Luke would also like to thank Sandi for this:
Bubble wrap is even more entertaining when you've been stuck in the house for 6 days.

In other news, I found out that the "standing broom trick" is really not that difficult.Also, giant hummingbirds are roaming free in my backyard:Finally, I mentioned my medical malady last week which has been keeping me from blogging...well, without going in to a whole lot of detail, I have been really, really, really sick at my stomach. Everything I eat makes me feel horrible. I have lost 9 pounds in the last two weeks. I am living off of cheese toast. (It's a good thing I like cheese toast.) Long story short, I went to see a doctor who gave me some medicine that is kinda helping, but not really. So now, I have to go back in with a, umm...sample.

All I have to say is, "You want me to put WHAT in WHERE?"The physics of this confuse me. I really don't get it.

Stop reading now if you have a weak stomach.

*********

Okay. They told me to put it in the fridge if I umm...do "it" the night before.

That is SO not going to happen.

I can't believe I ended my post this way.

Sorry, y'all.

Good gracious, Martha!

October 15, 2009

Martha Stewart, have you lost your mind, woman?

This is SO WRONG.

It reminds me a lot of the baby lobster costume.  At least the head is not coming out the butt end this time.

But, seriously, Martha Stewart?  If you made this hideous costume for your precious child, what do you do with it?  Just leave the kid lying on the table?  I mean, good grief!  You can't take Junior anywhere in the car, and he doesn't look like you could even pick him up.  The aerodynamics are all WRONG.

I am shaking my head at you Martha Stewart.  Blecch.

Umm...okay.

October 14, 2009

The instructions said "Write a sentence about Nate the Great, Master Detective.  Then, draw a picture to illustrate your sentence."

Luke, I'm not sure that's what they had in mind.

I've been...around...

October 13, 2009


Oh.my.WORD.

I can't believe I went this long and didn't write a thing. I've been going through blog withdrawal, but at the same time completely unable to blog.

Thanks to a good doctor and her great medicine, I am feeling a lot better and, hopefully, will stay that way. I will tell you more of my medical issues another day, but I want to thank those of you who let me know that you missed me, and bless y'all's hearts, I got 2 new followers during the time that I didn't write a single word.

I just love y'all.

Here's a little of what's been going on:

There was Mule Day, which we kinda didn't do as much with this year. We went to the carnival on Thursday night and did a lot of shopping on Friday night, but the rain kept us home on Saturday.
There was U2:
Isn't that a cool stage?!?

We had a unique opportunity to travel to Atlanta to see U2 in a private corporate box with food and a private bathroom. It was divine! I told Jason I wanted to see all concerts and football games this way now, but it's not gonna happen.
Bono sang every single one of my favorite U2 songs.
The stage was huge and had the coolest screen thing-a-ma-bob that could expand, shift down, light up, and probably could fix the healthcare crisis, if given the opportunity. It was awesome.

There was a fudgesicle:Senor Luke looks like he really enjoyed it, too.

There was skating at a wooden roller rink from 1946, that has recently been re-opened to the light of day by some good friend of ours:Emma has never put on skates in her life (not for a lack of my trying to get her to...), but she really enjoyed it.Not to be outdone, Luke had to try it, too. He fell a lot more than she did, but he got up laughing each time, so that was good.
My oldest child Jason was the first to put on skates, out of all the adults and children there. I had never seen him skate, so I was pretty wary of him falling and me having to call all the king's horses and all the king's men to put him back together again, but he managed to stay upright. He got brave after awhile and started playing roller hockey with a teenager. I warned him not to, citing his age and whatnot. Again, he didn't kill himself on the floor, but oh.my.word, the whining that has ensued since about the soreness and stiffness!

Honey, I TOLD you so.

Here's the greatest news, though:
Remember Elliot? He was released from the hospital TODAY after: 261 days in the hospital, 246 of them being in the NICU, a cross-country flight, and five surgeries. I am totally praising God to see them take this next step in their journey HOME!

Thanks for sticking around during my blogging drought. Hopefully, I will get back in the swing of things soon.